Bradley Hartmann is El Presidente of Red Angle (www.redanglespanish.com), a Spanish language training firm focused exclusively on the construcción industry. Hartmann has been successful improving Safety, Productivity and Profitability by speaking Spanish on the jobsite. Hartmann lived in Guadalajara, México during his undergraduate studies and later earned his MBA. Hartmann also teaches Construction Spanish at Purdue University’s Building Construction Management Program. He has authored 2 books - Spanish Twins: Start Speaking Spanish on the Construction Site with Words You Already Know and Safety Spanish: Simple Spanish Skills for Solving Safety Problems. Hartmann would love to hear your thoughts digitally at [email protected] or verbally at 630.234.7321.

Meanwhile, construction firms hire individuals to work jobs with the highest rates of injuries and deaths, sit them through a Power Point slide deck and think they are ready.

As for Spanish-speakers… Dios mío.

“We’re in America – learn English!” you say.

We can’t bear the expense of translating everything into Spanish!

We don’t have time to consider cultural differences!

Here… Just fill this form out (in English) and watch this video. We need you on the job mañana.

Should we be surprised Latinos are nearly 2x as likely to be injured or killed on the job?

Oh, right.

Everyone takes the OSHA 10-Hour online.

Perfect.

This means kids – paid in Skittles – press the arrow key on the computer keyboard every 4 minutes.

Then they hope their daddy doesn’t die.

I know… We’re all busy.

With the rise of tablets/smartphones and an increasingly accessible set of tools to develop and deliver meaningful daily training, we need to get creative and train construction workers better and more frequently.

If your training is more Keurig (2 minutes and some basic common sense and you’re good to go…), than Starbucks, start a conversation to improve it.

Here’s a question: What percentage of your team has truly developed a set of Safety habits?

Habits are developed over time – not purchased and handed out like Non-fat Chai Tea Lattes and Blossom Stockholm Magazine Files.